


death-scented sweetness

by kythen



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Banter, Blood Drinking, M/M, Mages, Vampires, vampire!Kuroo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2018-12-18 07:32:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11869554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kythen/pseuds/kythen
Summary: Kuroo is looking for his next meal and he thinks he just found him.





	1. a free meal

**Author's Note:**

> This started from a [ three sentence fic](http://kythen.tumblr.com/post/164411315804/kurodai-kuroo-is-a-vampire-and-daichi-is-supposed) on tumblr that grew way out of control into a full(?) fic.
> 
> Thank you to the anon who prompted this and everyone else who asked for a continuation or an explanation for inspiring this.

The sweet scent of blood fills the narrow confines of the alley, hanging thick in the air between Kuroo and his next meal. The man Kuroo had stalked through the night walks at a steady pace through the alley, never noticing Kuroo the whole time, his back faced to him and his neck bare, his hair cut sensibly short to the nape.

By the time Kuroo comes up behind him, his fangs bared and ready to sink into his neck, it is too late—this close, Kuroo finally notices that the man's blood isn't just sweet, but sickly sweet in a stomach-turning way, and the man has stopped walking, the edge of a smile glinting sharp on his mouth as he asks, "Aren't you going to bite me?"

Kuroo recoils, his nostrils flaring with the cloying scent of the man's blood. It doesn't smell right. It smells unnatural and that is saying something considering that Kuroo has encountered all sorts of people over his years of being, human and non-human, and he has never come across a scent like his.

The man turns, facing Kuroo head-on now, and Kuroo backs away uncertainly, no longer interested in feeding on him. But he is still interested in the man's scent and why someone like him would smell like that. Kuroo takes another whiff, picking through the different tones in his scent, marking him out as human, male, and—

"Dead," Kuroo states, his eyes wide as he finally recognises the sickly sweet perfume of the dead against the roof of his mouth. "You're dead."

The man shrugs. "I was, once. But now, I've lived too long."

"How?" Kuroo blurts out, curiosity overtaking his hunger.

"I'm not going to tell you that," the man says, amused. "I don't even know you."

"I could threaten you into telling me," Kuroo says lightly, sharpening his nails with a flick of his wrist.

"Don't waste your time," the man tells him without batting an eyelash. "I won't die. I'm not scared of death and I'm not scared of you."

Kuroo considers the man and his fearless attitude as they face off in the cramped alley. The man doesn't seem the slightest bit fazed by Kuroo and judging by his earlier reaction, he doesn't care if Kuroo was going to feed on him or not. His scent disturbs Kuroo, tickling his nose and making his spine tingle, and Kuroo's head spins as he tries to figure out his next move. He would feel foolish if he were to back out here now and he is famished, given that he had been counting on this man to be his next meal.

The man seems to take pity on Kuroo's confusion and he huffs out a sigh, saying, "You're a vampire, aren't you? Are you hungry? For you to be attacking me this close to the heart of the city, you must be. I could give you some of my blood if you like but judging by your reaction, you might not want it." The man smiles wryly. "Does it stink?"

"It's... different," Kuroo admits. "But it doesn't stink."

"So do you want it?"

With an intense scent like that, Kuroo is going to be tasting his blood inside his mouth for weeks if he does, but hungry vampires can't be choosy, and Kuroo doesn't think he will be able to find another person out this late at night. He wants to eat and he wants eat now so if this man is offering, strange blood or not, he will take it.

"Yes," Kuroo says quietly and takes a step towards him.

The man holds out a hand in front of him and Kuroo blinks. "Not here," the man says. "I'm not letting drink my blood in a dingy alley. Follow me."

"You're not going to kill me or something, are you?" Kuroo asks warily. "Lead me to someplace with a stake or fire or a guillotine?"

"Ha," the man snorts, his eyes glinting with amusement as he turns his back on Kuroo. "That's up to you to decide. I'm not going to force you to follow me home."

He sets off down the alley and Kuroo hurries after him, his footsteps soundless against the grimy ground, trailing the man like a shadow. Everything about this situation seems bizarre when Kuroo thought that he could just finish the man off quickly, suck him dry, then leave before the sun comes up. But now, here he is, trotting along at the heels of a man whose blood isn't even that appetising to him. Kuroo is intrigued and he only hopes that his curiosity doesn't lead him into trouble.

The man leads him to the outskirts of town where the oldest and grandest mansions are—or once were. Over time, the families had packed up and left, fires had overrun this district, and the mansions had fallen into disrepair. Kuroo had seen it all happen over the course of centuries and he is surprised to find that there are still people living here. They stop before a mansion which looks considerably more intact than its neighbours and the man pulls out a set of keys to unlock the front gate, pushing it open with a loud, grating noise.

"After you," the man says and Kuroo steps past him and into the premises.

The man does the same thing at the front door, giving Kuroo freedom into his home. Kuroo could wander but he feels obliged to stay by the man's side like an awkward houseguest as he strikes up a match and lights a branch of candles. There is something about this place that makes Kuroo's hair stand, just like how the scent of the man's blood had thrown Kuroo off guard. It isn't dangerous but there is something extraordinarily intriguing about the man and his mansion, something hidden, something unnatural, that makes Kuroo want to pry.

When Kuroo turns his attention back to the man, he realises that the man has a tiny silver blade in his hand and he is looking at Kuroo expectantly.

"I'm not going to hurt you or anything," the man scoffs as Kuroo leaps nearly a foot into the air. "This isn't blessed or smeared with garlic or magically going to transform into a wooden stake so relax. For a vampire, you're such a scaredy cat."

"Well, I don't usually find myself in situations like this," Kuroo informs him, straightening his coat, embarrassed. "You see, when I interact with a human being I usually just kill them and suck their blood so there isn't much going on between us."

"Not one for socialising?" the man asks with a smile on his face.

"With human beings," Kuroo corrects. "Now, what's that knife for then?"

"I'm not going to let you drink my blood from my neck so you're going to have to settle for my arm." The man unbuttons his sleeve and starts rolling it up his forearm.

"Why not? It's tradition," Kuroo grins, baring his fangs at him.

"I know that it definitely isn't as sexy as it looks, despite what erotica says," the man says tartly, "and it's going to be uncomfortable for both you and me so you're just going to have to deal with it."

"Not one for being embraced from behind with my strong arms?" Kuroo asks, waggling an eyebrow at him. "Feeling my moist lips on your delicate neck?"

"Okay, you've definitely been reading some of that trashy stuff," the man says and finishes rolling up his sleeve. "Look, do you want my blood or not?"

"Yes please," Kuroo says, remembering his empty stomach.

The man draws a line down the inside of his forearm with the tip of his blade, slicing through his flesh shallowly. Blood trickles out from the fresh cut, streaming over his forearm and dripping to the floor. Kuroo is there by his side before the first drop can fall, kneeling on the floor and taking his arm in his hands. His head feels dizzy with the cloying, sweet scent of the man's blood, his stomach rolling but hungry for a taste at the same time.

He catches the droplets of blood on his tongue first, the small amounts burning sweet in his mouth, before he puts his mouth to the rivulets running around his arm and then starts lapping at the blood fresh from the man's wound. It is a lot like choking on roses, his mouth and nose filled to bursting with the scent of sweet death, but he can't stop. He is famished and the man's blood is warm, thick and red with life. He runs his tongue over the length of the cut and the man winces, his arm trembling in Kuroo's hold.

"That stings," the man says, pushing at Kuroo's head. "How much do you need anyway?"

"Usually, I drink it all," Kuroo says, sucking at the seam of his cut, which makes the man flinch and yank at his hair. He glances up at the man, his eyes half-lidded, his insides warm and heavy with fresh blood as he purrs, "Since you can't die, why don't you just give it all to me?"

"No, thanks." The man tugs at his hair again, shaking Kuroo off his arm. "That's all I'm letting you have. Get off me."

Reluctantly, Kuroo detaches himself from the man's arm, eyeing the last remaining droplets as he licks his lips. The man's blood had been as strongly flavoured as his scent, which should have made Kuroo sick to his stomach, but he hadn't been able to stop. Despite the cloying sweetness, it was addictive in its own way and it was filling, which means that Kuroo won't have to hunt down another human for the next few days. In fact, if the man was willing to feed him regularly...

Kuroo tastes the insides of his mouth and winces. Maybe not. While the man's blood had tasted good while he was gulping it down, the aftertaste lingers too strongly for his liking. Until his next meal, Kuroo suspects that his mouth is going to taste like the man's blood, death-flavoured sweetness.

"So," Kuroo says, feeling satiated nonetheless. "Are you going to tell me your secrets?"

The man inspects his arm but doesn't make a move to close his wound or roll down his sleeve. It is still bleeding sluggishly and Kuroo's eyes are drawn to it despite himself.

"No," the man says. "Are you going to get out of my house?"

"You invited me in."

"For a meal. Singular," the man says. "Because I took pity on a starving vampire. Now that you're a well-fed vampire, you should take your leave."

"We aren't even going to cuddle? A bit?" Kuroo flutters his eyelashes at him.

"Stop reading that trash." The man rolls his eyes but there is a hint of a smile on his lips as he shoos Kuroo off.

The man escorts him to the doorway, if only to make it obvious that he wants Kuroo to leave, and Kuroo halts at the threshold. He still has time before the sun comes up and tonight had been an adventure he hadn't expected to have when he had gone in search of food. He leans against the doorframe and the man folds his arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow.

"Look, I don't want to seem ungrateful by just leaving—" Kuroo starts.

"Oh, you won't," the man interrupts. "I want you to leave. I won't consider you an ingrate."

"So thank you," Kuroo pushes on valiantly, raising an eyebrow to match the man. "I'm Kuroo."

The man blinks, as if he hadn't been expecting to get a name after all of this. "Sawamura," he says and that is all Kuroo gets.

"Sawamura," Kuroo tries out and finds that it suits him. "I hope our paths cross again."

Sawamura snorts but he is openly smiling now, even as he waves Kuroo's farewell off. "I'd rather not. You vampires are a troublesome lot."

"Now we'll definitely meet again." Kuroo grins.

"Just go before the sun comes up and my blood goes to waste when you turn into ashes," Sawamura retorts.

Kuroo leaves, going through the front yard and the gate like a civilised being. When he turns back, he sees Sawamura still standing in the doorway, a lone figure dwarfed by the backdrop of his crumbling mansion.


	2. a visitor in the night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this is going to be a multichaptered fic?? I don't quite know where I'm going with this but we'll see. Updates might be a little slow because I'm not supposed to be writing fics but essays eep.

The second time Kuroo meets Sawamura, it is at Sawamura's mansion again when the night is young and the moon is full, heavy with magic and mystique, shining down on Sawamura as he levels a flat look at Kuroo through the bars of his ornate gate. Kuroo flutters his fingers at him from the other side of the gate, smiling pleasantly, and Sawamura crosses his arms over his chest.

"What are you doing here?" Sawamura asks, making no move to open the gate separating them.

"I was in the area and I thought I'd drop by to say hello," Kuroo says truthfully. Mostly truthfully.

"Well, you've said hello. Goodbye then." Sawamura turns his back on Kuroo, ready to go back to his mansion.

"Wait!" Kuroo thrusts an arm through the bars of the gate, a gate which he could easily break through if not for the fact that he knows Sawamura would be very angry with him if he did so. He snags the back of Sawamura's shirt, his hand twisting in the cloth as he physically stops Sawamura from walking away from him.

It is all too easy and Sawamura jerks to a stop, held in place by Kuroo's hand. Besides his supposed immortality, there isn't anything special about Sawamura. He can't break free of Kuroo's superhuman grip on him, his eyes don't glow red, and his form remains unchanged under the full moon. He is, however, very angry and he twists in Kuroo's hold to glare over his shoulder.

"Let go of me," Sawamura growls and the warning note in his voice convinces Kuroo to do so immediately.

Kuroo pulls his hand back into the safety of the other side of the gate and Sawamura straightens out his wrinkled shirt, shooting Kuroo a withering look. It isn't anything worse than Kuroo has encountered before, but there is something very convincing about Sawamura's flat stares and glares. He makes Kuroo feel like a very small child who had just done something bad despite being told repeatedly not to. Kuroo thinks the feeling might be guilt, mixed in with a bit of glee and his fingers crossed behind his back when he says he won't do it again.

"What do you want, Kuroo?" Sawamura asks.

"I was wondering if you would like some company," Kuroo explains himself. "I mean, doesn't it get lonely in that mansion by yourself? Do you have any friends? Family? Pets—"

"Are you here for my blood?" Sawamura cuts in bluntly.

"Thanks for the offer but no thanks," Kuroo replies, holding up a hand. "I just ate."

At this distance, he can smell Sawamura's nauseatingly sweet blood, the scent of death still hanging heavy over him. With Kuroo's stomach full of warm, delicious-smelling blood, Sawamura's blood doesn't appeal to him that much. While Kuroo wouldn't mind a sip as dessert if Sawamura was offering, Sawamura seems more likely to offer Kuroo a bite of a wooden stake than his blood. Besides, Kuroo isn't actually here for his blood.

"You mean, you just killed someone," Sawamura states.

Kuroo shrugs. "That's what I do. Anyway, if they were skulking around in a back alley at this time of the night they couldn't have been up to any good."

"I was in a back alley the other night and you wanted to kill me for my blood."

"My point stands." Kuroo shrugs again. "You couldn't have been up to any good."

"I was returning home after visiting a friend. There's nothing illegal with that."

"At _that_ time of the night?" Kuroo asks, leering through the gate. "Who's your friend?"

"Yeah, I'm not telling you anything." Sawamura crosses his arms over his chest. "Like I said, I don't know you and you're a vampire."

"You say vampire like it's a bad thing."

"In case you haven't noticed, vampires feed off humans like me."

"So you are human." Kuroo leans into the gate. "Then why can't you die? And the cut from last week is completely healed." Kuroo reaches between the bars again, seizing Sawamura's hand in one lightning-quick movement and pulling it up.

Sawamura's shirtsleeves are unbuttoned and his sleeve falls away to reveal his arm, his skin smooth and unmarred despite the cut Sawamura had sliced through it just a week ago. His point made, Kuroo drops Sawamura's hand and retreats behind the gate again.

Sawamura scowls, tugging his sleeve back down over his arm. He reaches for the gate and Kuroo takes a step back, moving out of his reach. But instead of thrusting his arm between the bars and throttling Kuroo like he had anticipated, Sawamura does the smarter thing and opens the gate, eliminating the flimsy barrier between Kuroo and him altogether, giving him a wider range of choices when it comes to dealing with Kuroo.

"If I answer some of your questions, will you leave?" Sawamura demands, propping his hands on his hips.

"Well," Kuroo considers this, "that would depend on which questions get answered."

"Or I could get out my vampire-hunting equipment."

Kuroo falters. "You have vampire-hunting equipment?"

"You're welcome to come in and take a look," Sawamura says sweetly.

Kuroo takes a split second to think this through seriously. Although most human beings thought of vampires as terrifying, bloodsucking denizens of the night to be avoided, a vampire's existence was frighteningly fragile when faced with someone who knew all the right ways to kill a vampire. But Sawamura doesn't seem like a hunter and their previous interactions had taught Kuroo that he is stronger and faster than Sawamura. If Kuroo stays on his guard, he could overpower Sawamura easily and flee if Sawamura intended to do him harm.

Not that Kuroo thinks he would. Sawamura had fed a starving vampire without expecting anything in return and Kuroo has a good feeling about him. He trusts his instincts.

"Don't mind if I do," Kuroo says airily and breezes past Sawamura, boldly inviting himself into his premises. "Maybe I could give you a few tips on improving it."

\---

Kuroo finds himself in Sawamura's parlour, perched on the edge of an ancient armchair. Everything in Sawamura's mansion looks like they have seen better days, yellowing and greying and fraying around the edges. The grandfather clock across from Kuroo looks like it could have been made in the same year as Kuroo and that is saying something. Kuroo has never been in a place styled so closely to the time period of his birth and it is a bizarre kind of nostalgic.

Sawamura enters the room with a tea set, pouring tea into the only tea cup on the tray before settling down in a chair across from Kuroo and taking a sip. Kuroo eyes him, grudgingly admiring this show of pettiness. It isn't like Kuroo could drink tea but it would have been nice to ask and Kuroo had an appropriate response prepared for that particular question. Sawamura had just sidestepped everything neatly, sitting there without initiating or inviting conversation. If awkward silences was part of his vampire-hunting skills, Sawamura was more prepared than Kuroo had thought.

"Nice decor," Kuroo remarks, breaking the silence before it gets too unbearable.

Sawamura makes a wordless sound of assent.

"So..." Kuroo pushes through valiantly. "What do you do for living?"

"I'm a researcher."

"What do you research?"

"The human body. Biology."

"Is that an—"

"No, it is not an euphemism." Sawamura shoots him a dirty look. "Why is everything about sex with you?"

"It's an occupational hazard." Kuroo grins. "I'm a writer of erotica. Specifically, vampire erotica."

Sawamura chokes on his tea.

"Our areas of interest aren't actually all that different, don't you think?" Kuroo rests his elbow on the table, watching the interesting shades of red that Sawamura's face turns.

"You, of all people, being a writer of vampire erotica is just wrong on so many levels." Sawamura coughs, setting his cup down on the table before he drops it.

"That's the point. I can't be putting all our deepest, darkest secrets in a piece of sexy fiction read by countless numbers of people."

"You mean you're using erotica to spread misinformation?" Sawamura raises an eyebrow.

Kuroo smirks. "Exactly."

"I always knew that stuff was trash."

"Some of it is. But the ones I write are very good," Kuroo says loftily. "They may not be factually or even anatomically accurate at times but they are very stimulating."

"I'm... just going to take your word for it."

"I could read some out to you," Kuroo offers, making a show of searching his pockets. "Oh dear, I don't have any of my books on me now. But don't worry, I remember the important parts."

"No, thank you," Sawamura says hurriedly.

"Oh, but I insist. As repayment for your lovely blood the other day."

"I'm already regretting feeding you."

Kuroo places a hand over his unbeating heart. "By sustaining me, you're sustaining the vampire erotica that so many men, women, and supernatural creatures live off. You're a champion of erotica, Sawamura."

"What have I done?" Sawamura laments, a smile tugging at a corner of his lips. "I'll never be able to show my face in polite society anymore."

Kuroo flaps a hand at him. "They're a boring lot anyway. You're always welcome in impolite society."

"You mean vampiric society?"

"They actually do read my stuff, you know. Some of them like it. Unironically."

Sawamura winces. "Don't tell me that the vampires up north actually like that stuff."

"Up north?" Kuroo asks, feigning ignorance.

"The vampire coven up in the castle in the mountains. Aren't you with them?"

"Ah," Kuroo says, noting Sawamura's knowledge of this. While the vampire stronghold in the mountains was not exactly a secret among the supernatural creatures, normal human beings usually didn't know about it. "No, I'm not from there."

"Then where are you from?"

"Nowhere and everywhere," Kuroo says smoothly. "I'm a traveler."

Sawamura sinks back in his chair, his eyes dancing and a smile sharp on his mouth. "I'm not the only one being coy here, am I?"

"I speak nothing but the truth." Kuroo matches Sawamura's smile edge for edge.

"The abbreviated truth, you mean," Sawamura says, picking up his tea cup again. "It's fine. I won't pry, unlike a certain someone."

"You don't mean me?" Kuroo presses a hand to his chest.

"Yes, you," Sawamura says, eyeing him over the lip of his tea cup. "I was trying to be tactful so I wouldn't hurt your feelings."

"You've hurt them anyway," Kuroo says, getting up from his chair. "I know you want me out of your mansion."

"I didn't want you in my mansion in the first place."

"It's fine," Kuroo sniffs, moving towards the door. "I'll leave."

Sawamura puts his tea cup down and rises from his chair. "I'll see you out then."

Kuroo follows Sawamura as he leads him out of the parlour, through the hallway lit by a single branch of candles, and back to the door. Outside, the moon is still high in the sky, presiding over a twinkling night and bathing the wild vegetation in Sawamura's front yard in a pale glow. It is a night for romance and Kuroo thinks he spent it well. A hearty meal of blood and a spontaneous date wreathed in secrets—what more could a vampire ask for?

"You know," Sawamura remarks as Kuroo steps outside, "you could have just said that you had to leave before the sun comes up." He doesn't follow Kuroo out, leaning against the doorframe with a wry look on his face.

Kuroo turns towards him with a grin. "It's so much more dramatic this way, isn't it? Parting with conflict? Plus, it gives me a reason to come back so that we can make up."

"Vampires." Sawamura rolls his eyes. "Always so dramatic."

"Humans," Kuroo scoffs. "No imagination. When you've lived as long as I have, you need some entertainment in your life to spice things up a bit, even if you have to do it yourself."

"What makes you think I haven't lived as long as you have?" Sawamura retorts. "For all you know, I could be older than you."

"Yet another reason for me to come back. So we can compare ages and settle who's older once and for all." Kuroo winks. "I'll see you around then, Sawamura."

\---

Sunrise comes a scant hour later when Kuroo is safely in the underground maze of tunnels under the city. It had taken him almost the entire hour to travel from Sawamura's mansion to the nearest underground entrance on foot. Safe from the sun, Kuroo whistles as he walks through the dripping tunnels, the sound echoing cheerfully off the curved walls.

Shadows flicker at the corners of his eyes, human and supernatural beings who have made their home in the vast underground tunnels and caverns. Kuroo hasn't been here long enough to know them all—a feat he doubts he could achieve even with the time—but they know to leave him alone after making the mistake of targeting him on his first night here. Nobody crosses his path but a rat or two and Kuroo makes it to the hole in a wall he calls his temporary home.

"Kuroo!" a voice greets him as he pulls himself up onto dry ground. A bright-eyed vampire bounds forward, his fangs gleaming in a genuine smile as he sees Kuroo. "You made it just before the sun came up. Good hunting?"

"Excellent hunting." Kuroo ruffles the vampire's spiky hair in passing as he heads deeper into their shared home. "How about you, Inuoka?"

"Nothing for me tonight but I got some food for Shibayama."

A human boy with straight black hair waves at Kuroo, seated at the very back of the cavern that the three of them share. A paper bag lies on its side beside him, apples spilling out of its open mouth, and another ripped paper bag before him serves as a makeshift plate for wedges of cheese and hunks of bread.

"Welcome back, Kuroo," Shibayama says with a shy smile.

Kuroo adds a slightly squashed cake wrapped in oilpaper and string to Shibayama's meagre meal, something that he had gotten off his own meal after he sucked him dry. Shibayama lights up as he unwraps it and Inuoka beams at Kuroo and they are both blinding. A sunny day on the surface would be less radiant than the both of them combined in this dank place and Kuroo finds himself wondering if he could raid Sawamura's pantry for something nice to give to Shibayama.

Or he could just ask nicely. Given that Sawamura was really just a huge pushover with a soft heart and sweet blood, Kuroo could tell him about a starving boy living in the sewers under the city and there was a good chance that Sawamura would help. Anyone who would feed a starving vampire would definitely be a friend to the young and the weak, even if the young and weak in question had gifts in blood magic. Polite society frowned upon mages, especially those endowed with unusual magic, and Shibayama had fled underground to the vampires and other creatures of the dark when his family had thrown him out.

"Kuroo," Inuoka says as Kuroo takes off his coat and loosens his shirt collar, ready to bed down for the day. "Did you hear the latest news today?"

"The cravat is in fashion again?" Kuroo ventures.

"It is?" Inuoka cocks his head to the side, confused. "No, I heard that a group of hunters came into the city today so you should be on your guard."

"Are they here to hunt vampires?"

"No, they're not vampire hunters. They're from the World Order. I heard that they caught wind of someone special in the Firestarter District. A human who lived past his time."

Kuroo freezes with a sock in one hand and the other still on his foot. He had just spent the night there in the only mansion that was still inhabited, in the company of a human who had most certainly seemed as immortal as he claimed he was. Kuroo hadn't wanted to test that theory that early on into their acquaintanceship and risk losing Sawamura for good when he was only just starting to get to know him.

Kuroo has heard things about the World Order, a group of fanatics sworn to keep the balance of the world right, meaning that human beings were supposed to be nice, normal human beings and supernatural beings were only just tolerated. They wouldn't like Sawamura at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recently, I started playing Fallen London, which is a pretty neat text-based game with the premise of "London being stolen underground by bats" and all the zany things that follow. And it's free! This also reminds me of a certain Fallen London AU kurodai fic I'm pretty sure I came across once, with Daichi being The Last Constable and an agender Suga, if I'm remembering this correctly. But I can't seem to find it anymore so does anyone remember it and have a link to it?


	3. a strange courtship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry for the almost half a year break between the previous chapter and this one. I didn't forget about this fic and I do intend to see this to completion but thesis writing happened too intensely, Kinktober happened, graduation happened, and so did a lot of things except for writing apparently.
> 
> As I might or might not have said, multichaptered fics are really not my strong point so updates might be slow but I'm gonna work on that. The chapters are going to be short but I'm hoping that this means more frequent updates? I have to admit that I have a plot loosely formed for this fic but everything else in between is, uh, kind of just me winging it.

As soon as night falls, Kuroo takes off for Sawamura's mansion, ignoring all the back alley skulkers for tonight. He had spent a restless day underground, wondering if the lunatics from the Order would barge into Sawamura's mansion and carve him up in the name of their god, the supposed order of the world.

Sawamura had felt so terribly human when Kuroo had grabbed him by the shirt and then the arm last night. There was some decent muscle on him but what was decent muscle in the face of a group of lunatics? The fanatics of the Order never hunted alone, the cowards. They were far too aware of their mortality to ever move alone.

And then there was Sawamura who would face down a vampire in a back alley at night and take him home to feed him when he realised he was hungry. Kuroo wishes he had learnt more about Sawamura's supposed immortality last night. Would he die and be resurrected moments later? Or would he remain alive and conscious even through grievous injury? Would it hurt him? He seemed to feel pain when Kuroo nibbled on his cut, even though he hadn't flinched at all when he sliced his arm open.

The inside of Sawamura's mansion is dark when Kuroo comes within sight of it and Kuroo leaps over the gate in one swift motion, slamming right into the door and cursing when he finds it locked. He darts to the nearest window and yanks it open, breaking the rusted locks holding it in place and swinging himself through like a common burglar.

Instead of landing on the hardwood floor as he expected, Kuroo collides with a very warm and very human body, going down with it in a tangle of muffled curses and limbs. Familiar brown eyes blink up at him as Kuroo takes inventory of the situation in the mansion—no blood and carnage, something soft and warm under his butt, and a dagger pointed at his heart, which wouldn't kill him under normal circumstances, but this dagger isn't an ordinary dagger and it _sings_ for its wielder to end Kuroo's undead life in its own keening language. It makes Kuroo want to get as far away from it as possible when fear grips him, cold and intense like a sudden shot of ice in his lungs. It is old magic, strong and deadly when used in the right hands, and Kuroo suddenly believes Sawamura when he said he had vampire-hunting equipment. If he was in possession of a dagger like that, it was pretty much an everything-hunting equipment all rolled up in one.

"Kuroo?" Sawamura says incredulously from under Kuroo, keeping the dagger exactly where it is.

Kuroo gulps then remembers what he came here for. "Sawamura? Are you safe?"

"Yes?" Sawamura looks meaningfully at him. "Except from you apparently."

"Sorry," Kuroo mutters and gets off him, breathing easier when Sawamura tucks his dagger away. "Your door was locked."

"You couldn't wait for me to open the door for you?" Sawamura asks, his tone reproachful. "I was already on my way there."

"It was an urgent matter," Kuroo explains sheepishly, offering a hand to him. "Sorry," he says again for good measure.

"What urgent matter?" Sawamura asks as he lets Kuroo pull him up.

"I just wanted to check if you were still alive."

"Is this something that's going to happen every night?" Sawamura asks warily. "Should I be regretting my decision to feed you even more than I already do?"

"No takebacks," Kuroo tells him. "But seriously, I was worried about you. Have you heard the latest news?"

"The cravat's making a comeback?" Sawamura guesses.

"That was my guess too. But no, apparently those lunatics from the Order just moved into the city."

"The World Order?"

"You've heard of them then."

"Yes," Sawamura says shortly, with meaning that Kuroo doesn't understand packed into that one word.

"I heard that they might be after you."

"They might be," Sawamura agrees. "There's plenty of reasons why they would be."

The casual manner in which he says this sets off warning bells in Kuroo's head and Kuroo grips his arm, looking seriously into Sawamura's eyes. "I know that you're immortal and all but don't even think about facing them head-on if they come looking for you."

Sawamura glances at Kuroo's hand on his arm then back at him. Kuroo hadn't noticed this before but Sawamura's eyes are a nice shade of brown in the candlelight, clear like warm whisky and just as fortifying. They are calm and fearless as ever, just like the time Kuroo had ambushed him in the alley and now again when Kuroo warns him of a possible attack by a cult of fanatics.

"Are you offering me protection then?" Sawamura asks.

Kuroo tries not to look away. Nobody is unafraid of death or a painful destruction at the hands of madmen but here he is, facing the one person in the world who could be the only exception. It is unnerving and Kuroo wants to shake Sawamura until he lets slip a hint of fear or uncertainty or _something_.

"You could go underground with me," Kuroo suggests. "I'm assuming you know that's where the life of the party is."

"I know and that's why I won't go down there." Sawamura eases Kuroo's hand away from his arm. "Can you imagine what would happen if they came looking for me there? Innocent people are going to get caught up in this. You're a good person, Kuroo, but I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me. If you feel indebted because of the blood, don't be. I wasn't expecting anything in return." Sawamura scrunches his nose. "I wasn't expecting you to return at all."

Kuroo bites his lip, his teeth worrying his bottom lip, and Sawamura reaches out to tug on Kuroo's chin firmly before he can draw blood. "Stop that."

Kuroo glances at him and there is a warm spot against his chin where Sawamura holds him, lingering even after Sawamura drops his hand. This close, Kuroo can smell his blood, the same cloyingly sweet scent of the dead and the warmth of the living mixed into one. It should make him sick, should have made him sick when he drank it down, but it didn't.

"Do you know why I came back here?" Kuroo asks at last.

"Because you were in the area and decided to drop by to say hello," Sawamura says wryly.

"I was curious about you," Kuroo admits. "I've never met anyone like you in all my years of existence so you better not die or disappear before you tell me your secrets."

"I don't tell my secrets to just anyone." Sawamura crosses his arms. "Who are you going to be to me, Kuroo? A friend?

"If that's who you want me to be," Kuroo answers readily, and he is surprised to find that he means it.

"If that's who you want to be," Sawamura says after a moment of consideration, the corners of his mouth quirking up in a smile as he regards Kuroo with those keen brown eyes of his. "You're welcome to it."

\---

The next night, Kuroo shows up at Sawamura's mansion in his least wrinkled clothes, licking the blood from his lips as he waits for Sawamura to meet him at the gate.

"So you're here again," Sawamura observes, opening the gate for Kuroo without him having to ask.

"Here I am again," Kuroo agrees. "You know, we never did make up after that misunderstanding about you not wanting me in your mansion."

"It wasn't a misunderstanding. I didn't want you in my mansion then."

"And now?"

Sawamura steps aside to admit Kuroo. "Welcome in."

Sawamura's mansion is as sparsely lit as ever, illuminated by a single branch of candles on a side table along the hallway. This time, Sawamura doesn't lead him to the parlour but towards the staircase, picking up the branch of candles to light his way. Kuroo hesitates on the first step as Sawamura ascends the stairs, the hair on the back of his neck prickling curiously, an odd feeling tingling through his nerves.

"I hope you don't mind,” Sawamura tells him, “but I have work to do so we can talk in my study instead."

"Do you ever sleep?"

Sawamura shrugs. "Occasionally."

"That can't be good for you."

“It’s not anything that would kill me,” Sawamura says wryly.

“Someone’s complacent,” Kuroo says loudly. “Just because they’re immortal.”

“Well then, do you sleep, Mr Vampire?”

“Yes,” Kuroo replies as they reach the top of the stairs. “All the time. Every day if I can. There really isn’t much for a vampire to do in the day, you see.”

The doors on the second level of Sawamura’s mansion are shut tight, forbidding wooden guards that line the corridor Kuroo steps into. Like the rest of Sawamura’s mansion, they look ancient, the wood aged and rotting away in places. The hair on the back of Kuroo’s neck is still prickling and Kuroo glances around, wondering if the source of this strangeness is behind one of these doors.

Sawamura leads him to the far end of the corridor, opening the door to a corner room that Kuroo assumes is his study, and the strangeness dissipates somewhat as he follows Sawamura in. Kuroo rubs the back of his neck idly, lingering at the threshold as he considers asking Sawamura for a tour of his place, and Sawamura nudges him firmly in and shuts the door behind them, making that decision for him.

Inside Sawamura's study, the first thing that catches Kuroo's eye is a heavy wooden desk that sits in the middle of the room, laden with stacks of books and loose papers. The rest of the study looks to have been put together around the desk, bookshelves lining the walls from floor to ceiling and a window seat right under a square of smoky glass, leaving a narrow perimeter around the desk for Kuroo to wander. Sawamura lights the twin oil lamps on his table with a candle before setting the branch of candles aside, all of them blown out to conserve them for another time.

Kuroo assumes that the window seat is his when Sawamura takes the only chair in the room, a plush, worthy-looking companion to the desk, and begins sorting through the loose papers scattered on the surface of the desk. But Kuroo doesn't sit down just yet, coming over to the desk to hover by Sawamura's shoulder, reading whatever his gaze falls onto.

True to Sawamura's professed profession, the stacks of books piled up by the edge of his desk have the appropriate biology-sounding titles, but the loose papers that Sawamura gathers up are what catches Kuroo's interest. The first sheet of paper that Sawamura lays on the desk is a diagram of the human body, without the fun bits, parts of it labelled in what Kuroo assumes is Sawamura's hand. The second sheet that Sawamura places over the first paper is the same diagram of the human body, only now the labels are different, placed in no pattern that is familiar to Kuroo. The third sheet that Sawamura plucks from the haphazard stack in his hands has a mage circle drawn on it and Kuroo blinks.

"Are you a mage, Sawamura?" Kuroo asks, watching Sawamura pull out paper after paper, sorting them into neat stacks on the desk before him. Some of them have mage circles drawn on them, bearing symbols and patterns that mages use to concentrate their power or direct it into more intricate spellwork. Kuroo doesn't have an intimate knowledge of magic but he knows enough to recognise the elements they would work for. Life and death recur the most, but Sawamura shuffles through them quick enough that Kuroo can't try to make out what spells they would form.

"No, I'm not."

"What is your stance on mages and magic?" Kuroo asks casually, placing his palm on the desk and leaning in to read over Sawamura's shoulder.

"They're uncommon, but only because they've been hunted near out of existence over the centuries," Sawamura says, keeping his eyes on his papers. "In recent times, things have been much better for mages, but that's only for the ones that wield the less unusual elements, like air, water, fire, and earth."

"So elements like blood, for example, would still be a no-go for polite society, wouldn't it?"

"Blood magic is incredibly rare, and contrary to popular belief, blood mages aren't inherently evil. Unfortunately, polite society seems to be taking its time to read that particular memo."

Kuroo resists the urge to drum his fingers on the desk. "I'm taking that goes the same for life and death magic."

"Not many people feel comfortable around mages who have power over such integral parts of their mortality. Over them." Sawamura drops the last sheet of paper in his hands onto one of the stacks on his desk. "Those people are fools."

Kuroo raises an eyebrow. "Sounds like you feel very strongly about society's view on mages."

"I have friends who are mages," Sawamura says shortly, and Kuroo frowns. There it is again, a sentence packed with meaning that Kuroo doesn't understand. For someone so outwardly wholesome, Sawamura has so many secrets that Kuroo can't even begin to pick them apart.

"You have _friends_?" Kuroo asks, deliberately exaggerating his shock. "I mean, you're always alone and I don't smell anyone but you in this mansion."

Sawamura finally looks up at Kuroo, and Kuroo expects an eye roll or a retort, but what he gets instead is a quizzical look and a question. "How does your sense of smell work anyway? I know that werewolves have an enhanced sense of smell but I've never heard that of vampires."

"We can smell blood in and out of a body." Kuroo taps his nose. "It works better when it's out of the body of course."

"Dead and alive?"

"The dead have a very distinctive scent, just like you. But the older the body is, the weaker the scent. The living usually smell delicious."

"And vampires?"

"Vampires don't have a fixed scent since we're always ingesting other people's blood." Kuroo shrugs. "But I like to think that I smell delicious too."

Sawamura wrinkles his nose. "I hadn't wanted to offend you, Kuroo, but I think you should know you really don't. In fact, you smell faintly like the sewers."

Kuroo places a hand on his chest, right over his unbeating heart. "I am offended. I knew that, of course, but I take offence to you pointing that out."

"Are you going to leave then?" Sawamura asks, a smile playing over his lips as he reaches for his pen. "I remember you storming out after taking offence to something I said the previous time."

Kuroo scoffs. "No, of course not. Repeating the same scenario is just boring. Tonight, I forgive your tactless words out of the goodness of my heart and continue to pollute your study with my sewer-y scent. You should be grateful."

"I'm over the moon," Sawamura says dryly, pulling out a fresh sheet of paper from a stack to his far right. "Now, Mr Vampire, since you're still here with me tonight, do you think you have any useful, non-erotic knowledge of the body you can inform me of?"

Kuroo purses his lips and studies Sawamura's face seriously. "I honestly can't tell if you're propositioning me."

"I specifically said 'non-erotic'. Pay attention."

"Using the words 'with me', 'tonight', and 'body' in the same sentence is very misleading. Plus 'Mr Vampire' sounds like something a character in my next novel would say," Kuroo informs him.

" _Kuroo,_ " Sawamura emphasises. "I'm appealing to the maybe centuries-old, hopefully knowledgable vampire within you, not the trashy erotica writer."

"They are inseparable. Both the vampire intellectual and the erotica writer are me," Kuroo says loftily, but he shifts his hip against the edge of the desk, making himself comfortable as he leans down to peer at the papers before Sawamura. "Now, what questions do you have for me, Mr Researcher?"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Find me here: [tumblr](http://kythen.tumblr.com) / [twitter](http://twitter.com/catcrowcalls)


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